The Mousetrap
by Lyssa117
Summary: A story within a story. What happens when Draco Malfoy accidently wanders on to the fanfiction website? Not a parody. Dramione my fave ship Canon at first, then AU. Give it a try, let me know what you think!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N Hi everyone, here I am with another story! Yes, I know that I have quite a few stories floating around out there-know that I fully intend to update/finish them all! Sometimes I have to wait until inspiration hits, and this little story just sort of came to me...it will be kind of a "filler" in between updates for my other works. The story opens with The Half Blood Prince, from Draco's POV on the night before he lets the Death Eaters into Hogwarts. You have the opportunity to see what was going through his mind that night. The story will take a turn after that, though, and will follow quite a different path than the book! I hope you enjoy, please don't forget to leave me a review. I like reading them all and will take any and all suggestions into consideration. This won't be a terribly long story...ten chapters at most and I will update it quickly..it will probably be finished within a week, if not sooner. **

**I don't own Harry Potter, any of the characters, or story lines. **

**Enough of me...on with the story! :)**

The Woes of Draco Malfoy

The blonde teenager stood motionless in the quiet twilight, staring out over the dark gently lapping waters of the lake. The days were getting harder and harder to get through. He found his thoughts wandering over to the beginning of the term, when it had all been some sort of surreal game. He had fancied himself an important player, the man with a mission, the Dark Lord's right hand man. It was almost fun to come up with different strategies, clever plans, ideas that he hadn't really meant to implement.

But that was back when he had deluded himself into thinking he had a choice.

That one depressing fact jolted him right back to the present, and to his hopeless situation.

Tomorrow night. He faced it with a strange mixture of dread and relief. Relief that this would all be over soon, one way or another. And dread that this plan, his final attempt, would go horribly wrong and his family would suffer. And the horror of what would happen if it went right.

Draco Malfoy sank to his knees, clutching his head in his hands. There was no way out, no possible way to avoid what he had to do. An act of incomprehensible evil, an act that would strip him of any shard of innocence that he might still possess and leave his very soul in tattered ruins. But he was just a pawn, he knew that now. It was all he had ever been. He could see the fear in his mother's eyes, a desperate, clawing emotion that made it hard for him to even look at her anymore. He saw the horror and defeat on his father's face as he watched helplessly while his only child was subjected to the whims of a madman with no conscience or soul.

Was there even anything left of him to redeem? Almost against his will, Draco began reflecting on the evil acts he had already been a part of this year. Even though he had been coerced, he had tortured Avery with the Cruciatus Curse. And through it all, the Dark Lord's horrifying red eyes had been locked on Draco in undisguised glee, watching as the boy was forced to harm another human being in the worst way. He had put Rosemerta, the pretty barmaid at the Three Broomsticks, under the Imperious Curse in order to try to get the cursed necklace to Hogwarts. He had known, of course, that the necklace did not stand much of a chance reaching its intended recipient, but he had to show the Dark Lord that he was trying. Voldemort must have known, as well, that the plans were weak, but he took pleasure in knowing that innocents would be harmed, possibly killed, along the way. Ron Weasley and Katie Bell had both come close to death, but had managed to survive. Draco felt intense guilt consume him every time he thought of them. He wasn't friends with either, but he wasn't a murderer. At least not until tomorrow night.

After his last "stunt," as the Dark Lord had mockingly put it, it was time for Draco to complete the task, and do it right. There was no room for error, and the punishment for failure was death. It wasn't even his own death that frightened him at this point, in fact he would welcome the reprieve. But the Dark Lord knew his one true weakness—he loved his parents. And they, no matter their other faults, loved him. And that was the ultimate consequence should he fail. A long, slow death for all three Malfoys in full view of each other.

Draco knew that his parents were desperate enough at this point to go to the Order for help, but they didn't have the opportunity. Voldemort made sure of that. He had posted himself in their manor, strategically keeping Lucius and Narcissa prisoners in their own home. His mother's crazy sister, Bellatrix, was there to keep an eye on things when the Dark Lord was away. Draco was the only Malfoy permitted to leave, and that was to perform the exhausting work in the Room of Hidden Things. The work that needed to be done on the broken Vanishing Cabinet so that the Death Eaters could enter Hogwarts. And Draco could perform the grand finale to his year long act.

Kill Albus Dumbledore.


	2. Chapter 2

Mingling with Muggles

Draco straightened up slowly, looking out over the black waters of the lake without really seeing it. Tomorrow night, he would prove Potter and his friends right. He would become what they had suspected him of all along. They would hate him, and they would have their justification. And he would finally deserve it.

He gripped his hawthorn wand tightly, a decision made. He did not have many opportunities to make decisions for himself this year, but he had to do this. On his last night with an intact soul, the last night when he wouldn't have to call himself a murderer, he was going to go somewhere to try to forget. A place where nobody knew him and there was little chance he would run into the Dark Lord or his followers. A place where the name Voldemort was unknown and did not strike fear in the hearts of the unsuspecting residents.

Draco was going to spend the night in the Muggle world.

He waved his wand in the air and Disapparated into the night with a faint crack. He appeared on a well lit street, and looked around frantically, hoping that none of the Muggles had noticed his arrival. Fortunately, there were only a few that he could see, and they were far away enough to think that he had just emerged from a shop or stepped out of a dark alley.

Draco quickly pulled off his robe, cast a quick shrinking spell on it, and shoved it into his jeans pocket along with his wand. Trying to appear casual, he started off down the street. The anguish he had been experiencing moments before was still there, but the change of scenery and the Muggle innocence had provided enough of a distraction to allow him to tuck the emotion in a small back corner of his mind.

He wondered where he should go and what he could do in a idle way, after all he was in no hurry to return to the school. He walked for a little while longer, and eventually found himself in front of a brightly lit and cheerful looking shop. His first thought was that it was an ice cream shop, and he went in eagerly, licking his lips in anticipation of Muggle ice cream. It wasn't a treat that he was able to enjoy very often, ice cream was one of the foods that his father had always scoffed at for being "muggle invented." Draco smiled to himself as he imagined the look on his father's face if he knew where his only son was at the moment—hanging out on a Muggle street checking out their shops. His grin disappeared a moment later when he realized that Lucius would probably be relieved that his beloved son was safe, no matter where he was. Shaking that though from his mind, Draco looked around him. To his disappointment, it wasn't an ice cream shop that he found himself in. There was a counter behind which a bored looking Muggle girl with pink hair was reading a magazine and snapping her gum loudly. There were strange looking cylinders behind her and a menu of choices that he did not understand. He recognized the smell though, it was coffee and it was not unpleasant. There were a couple of Muggles in the shop, but they were all staring at odd looking square boxes and did not notice him at all.

Draco approached the counter, and the Muggle slowly put down her magazine and eyed him.

"Hi." she said, tucking a strand of pink hair behind her ear and running her eyes up and down him in a way that made him slightly uncomfortable. "Anything I can get for you?" Her question was pumped with a clear double meaning, and Draco almost laughed out loud for the first time in months. As if he would ever allow a Muggle to touch him. They were lucky he was standing in the same room with them, for Merlin's sake.

He looked quickly at the coffee choices on the menu, and then at the squares on the tables that had the Muggles so captivated.

"I'd like to use one of those." He gestured toward the squares, hoping that his request made sense. The Muggle's eyes changed to a look of disappointment, and then her bored expression was back.

"You need to sign this release first." She handed him a paper and a thin blue stick. "That will be 6 pounds for the first hour, 4 every hour after that. If you need to use the printer, that's an additional fee. After you sign the form, you can use number five." She picked up her magazine again and cracked her gum.

Draco glanced at the form, but it didn't make much sense to him. He looked around for a quill, but didn't see one anywhere. How did she expect him to sign this paper? On impulse, he picked up the blue stick and eyed it. There appeared to be a small ball at its tip. Was he supposed to write with this? Where was the ink? Making sure that the Muggle wasn't watching him, he touched the tip of the stick to the paper. Nothing happened. He pressed harder, and when he picked it up again, he saw a tiny indented dot. He experimented by pressing the stick against the paper again and dragging it down. It moved smoothly, and when he lifted it up again he saw a clear blue line. It certainly seemed less messy than the instruments he was used to writing with. Draco smiled to himself, thinking that maybe Muggles weren't so stupid after all. He used the stick to sign his name on the bottom of the form, and then, with another glance at the Muggle, he put the stick in his pocket. If she noticed that it was missing, he would just cast a Confundus Curse on her. He was going to have to do that anyway when he left because he didn't have any Muggle money. He left the form on the counter, but before he moved toward the square labeled "5," he noticed the name at the top of it. _Wired: Internet Cafe_

Draco mouthed the words to himself again, but they still didn't make sense. What did "Internet" mean? He wanted to ask the Muggle, but knew instinctively that the question would arouse suspicion. Well, he was a Malfoy and this was a pathetic Muggle contraption. He would figure it out. Draco mustered his confidence and sauntered toward the square that was his for the next hour.


	3. Chapter 3

"Dramione?"

Draco sat down in the chair and stared at the black square. One half of it was up in the air, like an open book lying on its side, and the other half was flat on the table. There were buttons on the flat part that had letters, numbers, and other symbols on them. Draco touched the part that was up in the air tentatively, but nothing happened. Feeling foolish, he glanced nonchalantly at the Muggles on either side of him. They were both moving their fingers around on a smaller square in front of the buttons, and clicking buttons on that smaller square. The open part of the large square was showing moving pictures, writing, and colors. Draco put his index finger on the smooth, small square and moved it slightly. Instantly, the open half of the square came to life. A screen opened up, with a message reading _click here to resume_. Fascinated, Draco carefully clicked one of the buttons on the small square. Nothing happened. He tried the other one. Still nothing. He moved his finger, and a small arrow began moving across the screen, following his finger movements. He guided the arrow over to where the words were, and it changed into a small hand. He clicked again, and this time the screen changed.

Across the top, in a deep blue color, were the words _ – unleash your imagination _Below that, in simple black letters, was the word _Books_. Draco saw a list of blue words underlined, and he assumed those were the "books." _Is this how Muggles read books? On this contraption?_ He wondered. He moved the arrow down the screen, lower and lower until he reached the bottom. He discovered how to move the arrow even lower by clicking on a smaller black arrow in the corner of the screen. Draco wanted to click on the Muggle books and see what happened, but first he wanted to see them all. They appeared to be in alphabetical order. When he reached the "H's," he suddenly felt a jolt of adrenaline course through his body.

_Harry Potter?_ He read the words so loud in his mind, he wondered if he had shouted them out loud. A quick glance from left to right told him that he was safe, the Muggles were enthralled with their own squares and hadn't noticed anything. Draco quickly moved the arrow over the words and clicked when it turned into the tiny hand. The screen changed, and a collection of story titles and summaries popped up. Draco moved his eyes down the screen, trying to take it all in. Why was Potter on this contraption...? Maybe it had to do with the fact that he grew up with Muggles? But the other story titles hadn't all been names...Confused, Draco paid more attention to the story summaries. His own name caught his eye, and he started to read...

Almost an hour later, Draco was fuming with anger. Normally he would have been proud of himself for mastering the basic workings of the fan-fiction machine, but he was too agitated to care. Who did these Muggles think they were, writing these things about him? How did they know so much about his life? He had found many stories about himself and other people he knew. Most had made him actually laugh out loud, earning him an angry glare from one of the Muggles next to him. But then he had chosen the "M" under the "rating" choice, and that had brought up a whole slew of additional stories. He had chosen the first one about him, wondering what the "Dramione" in the summary had meant. Four chapters into the story, he understood. And he was furious.

Draco's immediate impulse was to curse every Muggle within ten feet. He forced himself to calm down, that action would only bring the Ministry down on him and get him thrown into Azkaban. No, he had to be more calculating about this..he was a Malfoy, after all. He would find these Muggles that had dared to write that he would have sex with Granger. Granger, of all people! A mudblood, a know-it-all, best friend of Potter...With shaking hands, Draco tried to find out all that he could about the authors of the offensive stories.

Another half hour later, he was still frustrated and angry. He had even tried taking out his wand, pointing it at the square, and muttering "_Revelio_!" That hadn't worked, but he hadn't really expected it to.

Sighing in exasperation, Draco went back to reading the stories. He wasn't sure why, exactly. He certainly had had no desire to read the many stories about him and Potter having a relationship (it had only taken one exploration to discover, to his horror, what the word "slash" had meant), and while those had been aggravating, they hadn't brought out the emotional reaction he was experiencing now. He kept reading, not even noticing when he was alone in the cafe. When the lights blinked on and off a couple of times, that did catch his attention. He glanced up at the Muggle girl behind the counter.

"We're closing in ten minutes, so you might want to finish up what you're working on." She said in the same uninterested voice. Draco nodded quickly, and then turned his attention back toward the screen.


	4. Chapter 4

The early morning sun was just peeking through the trees as Draco Apparated just outside of Hogwarts. He knew that he should feel exhausted after reading all night in that cafe (he had cast a successful Confundus spell on the muggle girl), but he felt strangely invigorated. It felt odd, especially since he had spent most of this term feeling so dead inside. One unanswered question continued to poke at his head...how had the Muggles found out about the Wizarding world? He finally surmised that a wizard or witch had somehow leaked the information, but the Muggles thought it fiction and were having a great time making up their little stories. He found that he was no longer upset about the "Dramione" stories, but a fog of confusion had replaced his earlier anger. The one thing he kept coming back to, kept focusing on was that in most of those stories, Hermione had grown to love him and he had been...happy.

He knew that it wasn't real, the stories were just silly tales made up by even sillier Muggles, but he felt an overwhelming desire to find Hermione. Just to talk to her. He didn't know exactly what he would say, or how he would get her away from her ever present companions, Potter and the Weasel. Well, he would think of something. He had to do something to distract himself before he lost his mind thinking about what would happen tonight.

Draco arrived at the gates of Hogwarts and pressed the buzzer to alert the guard of his presence. A few moments later, he felt the whoosh of air as the protective enchantments on the castle lifted, and he was admitted inside. He walked quickly to the entrance, knowing that no one would question his absence. He went inside unnoticed and slipped into the Great Hall for breakfast. A quick glance over to the Gryffindor table showed him that Hermione was sitting by herself, nose in a book as usual. He had hoped that the hour would be too early for Potter and Weasley to be down here, and he was pleased to see that he was right.

He got to his feet and tentatively made his way over to her, heart pounding. She was so engrossed in her book that she didn't look up until he was standing right over her. Her eyes registered surprise when she saw who it was, and then a familiar wary coldness came over her face.

"Can I help you with something, Malfoy?" She asked testily. He shrugged, resisting the impulse to reply with a nasty comment about Mudbloods.

"I just noticed that you're without your usual pack. Thought I'd come over and say good morning, but it looks like you got up on the wrong side of bed, Granger."

Surprise flickered across her face, immediately replaced by mistrust. "What are you up to, Malfoy?"

He forced a smile. "Nothing. Can't a person wish a fellow prefect good morning? Want to take a walk by the lake?" Draco was shocked when he found the last sentence coming out of his mouth. He certainly hadn't planned to say that, and was readying himself to slink back to his own table in embarrassment when she responded.

"Sure, why not. I don't know what kind of game you're playing, Malfoy, but I suppose I'll find out soon enough." She put her book into her bag, slung it over her shoulder, and stood up. "After you." She gestured toward the door, a look of challenge in her brown eyes. Draco grinned and led the way to the door that he had just come through.

They walked in silence over the grounds and toward the lake. When they got nearer to the water, Draco stopped and turned to face her.

"Thanks for coming with me." He said, and his sincerity seemed to confuse Hermione.

"Your welcome." She said slowly. "Did you want to talk to me about something? Is everything okay, Malfoy?" He thought briefly about telling her about the Muggle stories he had found, but quickly changed his mind.

"Yeah. I don't know why I'm here with you, but I just needed..." He hesitated, and then in a rush, he found himself telling her about his year. About his family being held captive in their own home by Voldemort. About the fear and anger he lived with all of the time now. About his mission. When he reached that part, Hermione's face turned pale, but she didn't say anything. When he finally ran out of words, he simply stared at her, desperation and fear on his face. The only thought that was resounding through his mind was that he was dead. The Dark Lord would consider this the ultimate betrayal, and Draco and his family would pay the price. He knew a little bit of Legilimacy, but it was nowhere near powerful enough to keep Voldemort out. Hermione put her hand on his shoulder, and then quickly removed it as though she were horrified by her own actions.

"Harry was right about you." She whispered, eyes wide. "We didn't believe him, but he knew it all along..." Draco hung his head, wondering what he was going to do now. "But you're telling me." She continued. "You told me." She put her hand back on his shoulder, and this time she left it there. Draco stared at her, and then took her in his arms as if it were the most natural thing in the world. He felt the comfort of her arms around him, holding him close, filling him with a peace he had not felt in months, if ever at all. After a few moments, Hermione pulled back and her brown eyes met his gray ones. "You know we have to do something now." She went on to describe how they could go to Dumbledore, go to the Ministry, get ready to fight, rescue his parents...he tuned her out after a while, relief coursing through him. It felt so good to allow someone else to make the decisions, someone else to take on the burden that had been weighing on him for so long.


	5. Chapter 5

Rebellion

Draco passed his wand idly from hand to hand, wanting the day to speed up and also dreading the end of it. Hermione had convinced him to go on with his day as though everything was normal. She wanted time to work out what they should do, and he had agreed to meet her around dinnertime. That time was coming quickly, and he waited for her anxiously in their agreed upon meeting place, outside of the Room of Hidden Things.

He heard rapidly approaching footsteps, and straightened up to see Hermione rushing toward him. She looked worried, and he felt his ever present sense of dread increase.

"Malfoy..." She started breathlessly, "I have to get back to the Gryffindor dorm...something's going on...Harry just met with Dumbledore..." She grabbed his arm. "Come with me...we can talk there..." Not understanding, Draco allowed her to pull him along. When they reached a portrait of an overweight woman wearing a pink dress, Hermione stopped. "It's right here..." She said the password quickly and pulled the portrait open, revealing a comfortable looking common room. "Oh good, its empty. Get behind that chair for now..." She pushed Draco in the direction of a large armchair, and he crouched behind it. A few moments later, Ron entered the room.

"Oh, there you are Hermione...where did you rush off to?"

"I had to look something up." She answered quickly, but Ron seemed satisfied by her answer.

"Oh." He replied, nodding and rolling his eyes. Before he could respond further, Harry came crashing into the room, chest heaving as he tried to speak. Draco couldn't quite hear everything he was saying, but he caught the gist. Harry wanted his friends to share the bottle of Felix Felicitis that he had won from Slughorn because he was going somewhere with Dumbledore soon. The implication of this hit Draco like a physical force.

"No!" He shouted, jumping up from behind the chair and joining the trio. "He can't leave, not tonight!" Harry and Ron immediately pulled out their wands and pointed them at him. Instinctively, Draco pulled out his own in the same second. The three boys eyed each other angrily until Hermione moved between them.

"Ron...Harry...put your wands away!" They both looked at her as though she had lost her mind.

"Hermione...what are you doing?" Harry cried, taking big gulps of air.

"Yeah," Ron echoed, "How did this git get in here?"

"I let him in!" She cried defiantly. She pulled out her own wand and leveled it at them, eyes blazing. "I said, _put them away_." Harry and Ron exchanged a confused look, but then did as she requested. Harry glanced toward the door anxiously.

"Dumbledore's waiting...I have to get back...he thinks I'm getting my cloak..." Hermione and Draco both shook their heads.

"He can't leave. We have to talk to him." Hermione spoke with determination in her voice. "Come with us, you need to hear too..." She started to lead the way out of the common room.

"That's your plan? Talk to Dumbledore?" Draco said desperately, fear evident in his tone.

"Yes, he's the only one who can help!" Hermione replied without turning around. Harry looked at Ron again, who shrugged and motioned after Hermione. '

"After you, Malfoy." Harry said venomously, and they all left the room. When they reached the entrance to the spiral staircase, Harry spoke the password and they went up. Draco felt as though his head was pounding as loud as his heart. Things felt completely out of his control now. When the Dark Lord got hold of him, he was dead. So were his parents.

When they all tumbled into the Headmaster's office, Dumbledore surveyed them with surprise and irritation.

"Harry? What is this?" He asked. Draco avoided Dumbledore's eyes, trying not to focus on the blackened, dead hand.

"I'm sorry, Sir, but we need to talk to you!" Hermione cried shrilly. She took a breath, and then recounted the story that Draco had told her earlier that day. Draco looked at the carpet, not wanting to see the horror on Potter's face or the contempt on Weasley's. When Hermione finished, there was silence in the room.

"Draco, look at me." Dumbledore's voice was firm, but kind. Slowly, he raised his eyes to the ancient face. "I know some of what you have been dealing with this year. However, I did not know about tonight's plans. Thank you for making me aware."

"Can you protect my parents?" Draco was ashamed at how small his voice sounded. "He'll kill them if I don't do this! He'll kill them when he finds out what I've told you..." Dumbledore held up his good hand for silence.

"Draco, please sit down. I will send word to members of the Order right now so that the necessary steps can be taken to secure your parents and hide them somewhere safe. If Voldemort is not at the Manor, that task will be considerably easier."

"But how can you find that out, Sir?" asked Ron, who was glaring at Draco. Finding out that Draco was responsible for his poisoning made him want to curse the Slytherin into a writhing pile of slime.

"I have my methods, Mr. Weasley." Dumbledore murmured, moving quickly around the room. He waved his wand and cast a Patronus, which flew out the open door and down the stairs. Next, he whispered to Fawkes, and Phoenix disappeared in an impressive flash of fire. "And now..." said Dumbledore, facing his four students, "we have work to do. Obviously, Harry and I will be postponing our adventure for the time being. Draco, I want you to proceed as planned. Go to the Room of Requirement and let the Death Eaters through." He held up his hand again as Harry, Hermione, and Ron started to protest. "There will be Aurors and other members of Magical Law Enforcement there to greet them. That is where I sent Fawkes, to alert them. They will be here shortly. Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley, as school prefects, you are both in charge of making sure that all students are safe in their dorms tonight. I am also making you responsible for relaying that message to Mr. Macmillan and to Slytherin House." Although they looked shocked, Hermione and Ron both nodded and left the room, wands drawn. Draco watched Hermione go with a strange sense of longing. A part of him wished that Hermione could have stayed with him. He could not explain it, but somehow he felt stronger when she was next to him.

"Sir?" Harry asked. "What would you like me to do?" Dumbledore studied him for a moment before answering.

"Harry, please go with Draco to the Room of Requirement and hide yourself there. I will do the same. The Aurors should be arriving shortly, but it never hurts to have an extra wand during a fight." He paused, and then continued, his voice noticeably stern. "There are a lot of lives at stake tonight. I expect you both to put aside your differences and work together. Do I make myself clear?"

"Perfectly, Sir." Harry muttered, looking as though he would have rather patrolled the halls.

Draco forced the sneer off of his face and nodded quickly. Without looking at Harry, he took a deep breath and started to leave the room.

"Oh, Mr. Malfoy?" Dumbledore called from behind him. Draco turned, wondering what the old wizard wanted to tell him. He could not gauge the expression in Dumbledore's blue eyes. "Good luck." Draco nodded again and hurried away, Harry following close behind.


	6. Chapter 6

Through the Cabinet

Draco crouched low in the Room of Hidden Things. He loathed being here, he had spent most of the year in this place, trying desperately to repair the broken Vanishing Cabinet. He was still unsure that he was doing the right thing, he wished that he had had more time to talk to Dumbledore. He did not know if his family was safe, if he would ever see his parents again, the unimaginable depth of Voldemort's anger when he found out what Draco had done. He knew that Potter was in the darkness near him, and that knowledge brought more anxiety rather than comfort. He wished that it could be Hermione. He hoped that she was safe, patrolling the hallways, and wanted some way to let her know that he was sorry. Sorry for his role in all of this, sorry that he had not had the courage to go to Dumbledore sooner.

A sudden flash of light came from the direction of the cabinet, startling Draco out of his dark musings. Almost immediately, an answering flash came from many directions of the room, illuminating it for a moment. Draco caught sight of Harry's pale face for a second, and Potter nodded at him encouragingly.

"Here we go." Harry whispered, wand ready. Then the light, which Draco knew was members of the Order and Aurors from the Ministry, died and he felt alone in the darkness again. Telling himself that he had made his decision, Draco gripped his hawthorne wand tightly and got to his feet.

"Lumos." He muttered, and the wand tip lit a path to the cabinet for him. His heart was beating so fast, he wondered if the Death Eaters on the other side of the door would be able to hear it. He spoke the password that he had created to open the door, and wrenched it ajar.

Several large figures piled out and surrounded him. "Well done, Draco!" Alecto Carrow tittered. "Tell me, is the deed done?" Draco knew that she was referring to the murder of Dumbledore. He considered lying, but then changed his mind.

"No. Not yet. But he is out of his office, it will be easy to disarm him and complete the mission." The female Death Eater nodded in satisfaction.

"We will provide the necessary back up, but you have to be the one to do it. Then one of us will find and capture Potter." Draco nodded once, glad that the dark room prevented her from seeing the fear in his eyes.

"Ah, so good to be here." Another voice hissed from the darkness. Draco snapped his head toward it, not believing his ears.

"What are you doing here?" He asked angrily. Fenrir Greyback stepped out of the shadows, a cruel smile on his face.

"Why, I wouldn't miss a trip to Hogwarts, Draco! I'm hoping to find a nice, delectable snack wandering the lonely hallways...mmmmm...I do hope its a girl..." The werewolf smacked his lips loudly. Draco thought of Hermione, alone in the hallway, and felt his blood boil in anger.

"No! You're not supposed to be here! Don't touch anyone!" He raised his wand, only to have his wrist gripped by Amycus Carrow.

"What're you on about, boy? What do you care if Greyback kills a couple a' kids? Don'cha have a job to do?" His voice was threatening. Draco shook his are free.

"I do have friends here."

"Don'cha think Greyback knows not to harm Slytherins?" Amycus countered.

"Enough!" Gibbon cut in. "We're wasting time here! We all have a job to do, and this ain't it!"

"Right." Alecto shot a fierce look at Draco. "Let's move." Draco moved to front of the group, his skin prickling unpleasantly as he moved by the werewolf. He thought that he caught sight of Harry's face before the boy disappeared back into the shadows. He held his wand aloft and started to lead the way toward the exit, and also, unbeknownst to the Death Eaters, the members of the Order. _Any moment now, any moment now_...he told himself. But he was almost to the door, why didn't they act...

There was a bang and a flash of fire that caused Draco to jump back in terror. He heard the cries of the Death Eaters behind him, and Rowle began firing random curses in every direction. Members of the Order appeared in ever corner and advanced on the group, faces hard and determined. Dumbledore himself suddenly materialized in the center of the group, and leveled his wand at Greyback. The werewolf cursed in anger, shaped his hands into claws, and flung himself at the Headmaster.

"No!" Amycus Carrow grabbed his dirty robes and jerked him back. "It has to be the boy, Dark Lord's orders!"

"But that don't mean we can't play with 'im a little first." Rowle's twisted face contorted even more in hatred as he pointed his wand at Dumbledore, who was busy dueling with Gibbon and Alecto.

"Expelliarmus!" shouted a voice, and Draco watched as Rowle's wand flew out of his hand and went twirling and spinning toward his disarmer, who stepped forward and caught it expertly.

"Good one." Draco said grudgingly to a grinning Harry Potter. Rowle's eyes widened in anger as he pointed to Draco and sputtered.

"You...you...wait...Dark Lord...finds out...dead..."

"Shut up!" Draco cried, hitting Rowle with a silencing charm. The death eater gripped his throat as his voice died. One of the aurors quickly stunned him, and then bound him hand and foot in the next moment. Other members of the order ran forward to help Dumbledore, and within the next five minutes all of the Death Eaters had been subdued.

"You're dead, you blood traitor!" Gibbon shouted to Draco before he was transported back to the Ministry.

Draco took a deep breath and stared at the floor. He couldn't believe that it was over. The night he had been dreading for so long had ended with all of the Death Eaters being captured. There was no turning back now, no fixing what he had done. He looked up and searched for Dumbledore, needing to know that his family was safe.

"We were able to move them." Dumbledore said, his blue eyes finding Draco's gray ones. "They are in a safe house, protected by the Fidelius Charm as well as wards. You will be transported there once the Secret-keeper has returned."

"Thank you." Draco's voice came out in a whisper. His next thought was of Hermione, he needed to see for himself that she was all right. He gave a slight nod of comradery in Potter's direction, and then quickly headed toward the door.


End file.
